Calling for assault weapons to be banned. Of course, the fact that the SKS was never an assault weapon and was never covered by the ban will never enter into the debate.  Neither will the criminal records of the scumbags who were responsible. The Reading Eagle doesn’t seem ot want to talk about that.
Month: May 2008
A Tale of Three Criminal Records
The clarion call has been sounded, both by the politicians in Philadelphia, and by the Philadelphia media, that the only way we’re going to prevent cop killings on our streets is to pass more gun laws. The Philadelphia media has spent precious few resources concentrating on the three pieces of human debris that were responsible for the shooting death of Sergeant Liczbinski. I have managed to obtain complete criminal records for all three of the murderers.
Howard Cain was the trigger man in the Liczbinski murder. You can see his fifteen page criminal record here. Let’s look at all the violations of the Pennsylvania Uniform Firearms Act that Cain has been arrested for. Keep in mind we’re only looking at gun charges, since that is what this blog concentrates on. Over Cain’s criminal career he had thirteen arrests for unlawfully carrying a firearm, that were listed “Nolle Prossed,” meaning the prosecutor chose not to bring charges. In a further eleven arrests for violations of Pennsylvania’s firearms laws, the charges were either withdrawn or dismissed. In only three cases was he prosecuted and either plead guilty or was found guilty. On weapons charges alone, he could have done 12 years in prison, in which case he would not have been on the streets to kill a police officer.
You can find Levon Warner’s criminal record here. His is only six pages. We are happy to see Warner facing three charges for being a felon in possession of a firearm, and for unlawfully carrying firearms, in his latest arrest for conspiring to murder a police officer, and we do hope Ms. Abraham’s office will make them stick this time. Previously, the Philadelphia DA’s office thrice declined to prosecute Warner for gun law violations. The Philadelphia judicial system chose not to try him for six other violations of Pennsylvania’s gun laws.
And last, but certainly not least, Eric Floyd. Again, hopefully this time, he’ll actually face weapons charges, in addition to the murder charges. But again, in 1994, he was arrested for robbery, and the prosecutors declined to prosecute him for carrying firearms illegally in two counts. Also in 1994, the courts declined to try him for two counts of carrying firearms illegally.
Now keep in mind, I’m only looking at weapons charges. The rap sheets of these scumbags total twenty six pages, and contains all manner of things that should have kept them off the streets for good. I think it’s time we had a serious discussion here in Pennsylvania about how absolutely and utterly broken the City of Philadelphia’s criminal justice system is, and talk frankly about things we can do to fix it. Gun control obviously is not a solution, since the system is currently not using the laws already in the books in prosecutions. The Philadelphia media must not continue to give the politicians a free pass on deflecting blame onto others, and shame on them that it takes bloggers to bring the criminals records of these scumbags into the public light. The citizens of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania deserve better, and they aren’t getting it from either their political leaders, or from the media.
Weekend Posting
Sorry for the light posting this weekend. Bitter and I were busy making preperation for Louisville. I spent most of the weekend running through and refining my presentation for the “In Their Own Words” special session to be held on Saturday May 17th at 2PM. My presentation will be an introduction to blogging and gun blogging, and how it applies to second amendment activism. We leave for Louisville on Wednesday, so things will be busy until then.
Pat Murphy Jumps on Gun Banning Bandwagon
He has signed onto HR1022, the McCarthy Gun Ban, which bans a number of common sporting and target rifles, in addition to many common shotguns:
Congressman Patrick Murphy, D-8, a co-sponsor of a bill to reinstitute the assault weapons ban and son of a former Philadelphia police officer, said the government needs to be “proactive†to quell gun violence.
“While I support the right of gun ownership and I believe in the Second Amendment, I strongly believe that if someone wants to fire an assault rifle they should join the military,†Murphy said.
The congressman’s opponents in this year’s House race, however, said reinstating the assault weapons ban would do little, if anything, to stop gun violence.
Tom Manion, a Republican from Doylestown Township, said the focus should be on stricter law enforcement, not on enacting more gun laws.
“I really don’t think a ban on assault weapons is going to do anything to keep the criminals from getting their hands on guns,†Manion said.
Concealed weapons permit or not, Congressman Murphy, I can promise you that Mr. Manion will be getting my vote this fall, and I will do everything in my power to make sure the 1200 person club I belong to, and my many thousands of readers know why.
The Bill Congressman Murphy has signed on to, does not merely ban “assault weapons” , whatever they are, it bans two of the most common target rifles being sold today, including the AR-15, and many models of the Ruger 10/22. It is so badly worded, that it would, in effect, ban all semi-automatic shotguns, and many common semi-automatic rifles like the M1A, and the M1 Garand. The Ruger Ranch Rifle would also be banned under this bill. It give the attorney general authority to ban any firearm, so long as the attorney general makes a judgement that they are not sufficiently “sporting” guns, by whatever definition the attorney general chooses to use.
This is a bad law for hunters and shooters, and voters in Pennsylvania’s 8th district should be aware their congressman has signed onto it.
Quote of the Day
“I looked him dead in the eye when he came in and told him how disappointed I was in him.â€
Oh dear. So Mayor Squidward is “disappointed” in a cop killer, and I, an NRA member, am scum of the earth. Surely the Mayor’s moral compass is as true as any!
Some Sense in the City of Brotherly Love
A retired Philadelphia Police officer takes the city politicians to task:
Yet Mayor Nutter repeats the usual sophistry about guns. Hizzoner said, “That officer was assassinated on the streets of Philadelphia. There was nothing that could have protected him – that weapon penetrates vehicles.”
His statement illustrates why our elected representatives are unable to reduce violent crime.
The mayor’s lack of knowledge of weaponry notwithstanding, there is one patently obvious policy that definitely would have protected the officer.
If Levon Warner had served his full sentence, he would’ve been in prison until 2012. He could not have committed any crime in 2008.
If Howard Cain had served his full sentence, he would’ve been in prison to 2052. He would not have murdered anyone in 2008.
If Eric Floyd had served his full sentence, he’d have been in jail, not robbing banks, in 2008.
But all three served less than the max and committed more violent crime. This time a cop ended up dead. Why isn’t the mayor addressing this more easily remedied and more salient issue?
Read the whole thing. The Mayor isn’t addressing the issue because we can’t have a real, public discussion about the dreaded topic of personal and civic responsibility; something that’s sorely absent in many of the city’s worst neighborhoods. It would take real leadership to address it, and the voters of that city aren’t going to get it from its Democratic machine.
Should Doctors Have Guns?
A comment asks for my thoughs on this. I don’t see why Doctors should be different than any other business owner. The primary objection, I would imagine, is that it violates their hippocratic oath to “do no harm.” But to me, that doesn’t require being taken to suicidal conclusions. The “do no harm” directive applies to the practice of medicine, it doesn’t apply to a doctor’s right to defend himself, and the employees and patients in his practice.
To me, it’s a matter of personal choice for the doctors. If a doctor chooses to have a gun in his office, fine by me. If he chooses not to, that’s fine by me too.
Cleaning Firearms
As Bruce points out, step one is to unload the firearm, not get an ice cold bucket of Miller Lite. Any guess on what The Garden State would do to an FID holder if this happened?
Violent Crimes and Concealed Carry
Pretty conclusive that states with right-to-carry laws have lower crime rates than those that don’t.
Gingrich Talking Tough to Republicans
Newt Gingrich thinks the GOP is in a lot of trouble come fall. Eric ponders that if Newt’s outlook is right, it might mean voting Hillary is the best move for the country. I do think Obama is the easier candidate to beat, but that’s not to say I think McCain is sure to beat him. Newt wants to restore the GOP brand, but I think that’s going to be difficult as long as Iraq is an issue. Iraq is the bull in the china shop for the GOP.
I am not optimistic about our prospects this fall, especially for gun owners. The pendulum is swinging around, and I can promise you that an increased Democratic majority will put our gun rights in serious jeopardy, no matter how Heller turns out. A Democratic sweep in the fall may very well make Heller completely irrelevant.